US sporting goods giant Nike said it was investigating claims by labour activists that its manufacturers in Indonesia were trying to evade paying its workers the minimum wage. “Nike takes these claims seriously and company representatives are investigating the claims,” global corporate communications director Greg Rossiter told AFP. Nike’s code of conduct is “very clear”, he said, adding the company expected workers producing for Nike to be “paid at least the minimum wage required by country law and provided legally mandated benefits”, such as holidays, leave and severance pay. Following massive protests, Jakarta workers won a 44 percent minimum wage rise to 2.2 million rupiah ($228) a month, effective on January 1, and other provincial governments are following suit at different rates. Minimum wages are regulated at provincial and district levels in Indonesia but authorities have mulled giving exemption to factories deemed unable to afford the hikes. Jim Keady, head of the US-based NGO Education for Justice (EFJ), has said at least six Indonesian suppliers had applied for exemptions. After the EFJ visited the western Javanese city of Sukabumi, it reported a Nike supplier there had won approval from the district wage council to pay only 1.1 million rupiah, instead of the new minimum wage of 1.2 million rupiah. “Nike unfortunately exercises imperialist values – values that run counter to the commitments to democracy and human rights,” Keady said. More…